Sword Art Online: Gaiden
by HeyLet'sFinishAStory
Summary: When Sword Art Online launched, 10,000 players entered it. This isn't a story about Kirito and Asuna, but rather, a different pair who was apart of that unfortunate group of players. This is their story, one of loss, victory, tragedy, happiness, and love. Here you'll follow Makoto as he makes his way through the death game that is Sword Art Online, and experience what he did.
1. Where it All Begins

**Where it All Begins**

My eyes jolted open as the sound of buzzing resounded through my head. I blinked a few times and shook my head before looking to the table that sat to the right of my bed, locating the source of the noise. I squinted with annoyance, I didn't recall turning my alarm on, yet there it was in all it's glory, clock and all, staring back with it's emotionless face. The time read 7:00 AM, which caused a scowl to form on my face, my mother must of set it while I was sleeping. With a sigh, I kicked my legs up and got off my bed, clicking the alarm off before letting out a yawn as I stretched my arms out. I then lazily walked over to my window and opened the curtains, raising my arms to my eyes to protect them from the sunlight that came in. Having finally adjusted to being awake, I walked to the door of my room, opening it so I could make my way to the bathroom. As I rounded the hall and put my hand on the handle to the bathroom a voice echoed through house.

"Makoto? Are you up yet?"

I figured I'd have more time before she called for me, but it seems I was wrong, "Yeah mom, I'm up, just heading to the bathroom."

"Well, don't take too long, I'm making pancakes and then I have to take your sister to her tutor." My mother responded.

I smiled, she always somehow sounded happy, which in the end, made it hard for me to not be happy myself. She had a habit of doing that, ever since dad's work made him move to Tokyo she's been forced to work twice as hard, but not once has she ever let it get to her, I admired her for it, that level of optimism couldn't be easy to pull off, but if anyone could do it, it was her. She was truly amazing in that regard.

I entered the bathroom and walked to the mirror, as I examined myself in the mirror I noticed something abnormal. I leaned in to the mirror, and upon closer look, I realized it was hair, not the kind that grows on your head mind you, I had plenty of that, despite the abuse I put it through from bleaching it blond, but the kind that grows on your chin.

"Well, it was bound to start eventually..." I told myself before letting out an amused snort. I was sixteen now, so it was just a matter of time before puberty would hit full swing and I'd have to start shaving. With that thought now ingrained in my mind I found my eyes wandering to one of the drawers in our sink. I opened it and grabbed a pair of scissors that rested inside, bringing it up to snip the lone whisker.

"Sorry pal." I told it as I cut it off my chin. After returning the scissors to the drawer and closing it, I looked back to the mirror as my hand moved to grab a comb. I keet my hair short, but even then, I still need to comb it to keep it looking nice.

After finishing up in the bathroom I jogged down the stairs and entered the kitchen, the aroma of pancakes entered my nose as I looked over to the oven to see my mother finishing up breakfast.

"Oh there you are Makoto!" She looked behind herself, greeting me with a smile, "I was wondering when you'd come down."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Sorry mom, I had a few extra things to take care of."

She merely smiled before grabbing a spatula, bringing the pancake out of the pan and sliding it onto a plate, turning around to place it in front of me. "It's alright," she told me, "Now eat up, I've got to get Aiko to her tutor." She untied the apron from around her body and folded it up as she began to leave the kitchen. "Oh, and don't forget to study for your quiz! I know it's Saturday but that's no reason to slack off all day."

I sighed, waving her off, "I know, mom, I know."

She gave a soft smile and began walking up the stairs to Aiko's room, "Oh and by the way, your father's coming home next week for the weekend, so you better clean your room up nice and tidy!" She trailed off as she entered my sister's room.

I leaned back slightly as I brought my gaze to the ceiling, "Eh.. I'll do it later.. After all.. today's the day.." I thought to myself. Today was November 6th, Sword Art Online's launch day. I still had about four hours before it launched, but I couldn't help but feel giddy. I've only been gone from it for two months but it felt like forever since the beta. I smiled at the memories I made. I worked with everyone else on trying to get as far as possible, making it to the tenth floor with all of the other raiders before the beta shut down. "I wonder if I'll get that far even faster then before," I thought.

After finishing breakfast returned to my room to get ready to play. I figured since I still had about three hours I'd clean it up a little, just to make mom happy. Once I finished making my bed I moved to the corner of my room, where a long wooden staff rested against the wall. I gripped it and moved to the center of the room, a slight smirk on my face. Back in the beta, I used a quarterstaff as my main weapon, it felt right for me, since I actually had some level of familiarity with it. My father got me the one I held now as a present before going away for business, so it felt like I had a piece of him with me when I was in-game too, silly, I know.

After a bit of training I looked over to my clock and read the time, 11:55, five minutes before I was returned to the world I fell in love with. I moved to my door and closed it, before returning to lay on my bed as I grabbed my Nervegear. I powered it on and watched the time in the corner of my eye on the visor, 11:59, it flashed, counting the seconds internally before finally it changed. I smiled, "Let's do this, Link Start!" I yelled. My vision faded to white before I saw a multitude of colors fly past my eyes. Little graphics started to pop up and move to the corner, 'Touch – Okay', 'Sight – Okay', the five sense all confirmed themselves as working which allowed me to move to the next step, logging in. I entered my account information. To my surprise, my beta character was stored and it prompted me if I wanted to use it, I selected yes and before I knew it I found myself being transported to another world as my vision faded to white again.

When my eyesight cleared up I found myself looking at a wall. There was that surreal feeling from the beta, except it felt even cleaner this time. I clenched my hands before looking around, taking in my surroundings, I was in the Town of Beginnings. I grinned before jumping into the air, "Yes! I'm back baby! Floor 100, here I come!" After I spoke, flashes of light began to beam down from the sky. More players were joining in, all probably excited to play. I quickly sped off to the market district, "Might as well see how far I can get today. Hopefully I can get all the starting stuff out of the way so I can get into the real meat of the game tomorrow," I thought to myself.

I rounded a corner and came to a stall, it was a weapon shop. The NPC in charge was a tough looking man, burly and tall. His eyes met mine and he offered a smile, "Here to shop?" He inquired.

I nodded my head, "Yes please." Prompting the shop menu to appear. I scrolled through the weapons until I saw it, «Training Staff». I hit the buy button and equipped it. It materialized on my back, I felt complete now. With my quarterstaff, nothing could stop me, or so I thought at least. Afterwards I went to a few other shops, buying some utility items before heading out to the exit gate.

As I was walking to the exit, I looked around, all around me were players of all different sizes and appearances. SAO had a complex character creation system that allowed for players to make almost any style of character, provided it was human of course. I rounded a corner into an alley way, pushing myself into a light jog. Once I got to the end of the alley I grinned, "Almost there! Just gotta round this corner and there's the exit gate!" I quietly told myself, although anticipation was practically dripping from my tone. Suddenly before I knew it, I found myself being knocked backwards.

"Ah!" A feminine voice broke my train of thought.

I shook my head and looked in front of me, it was a girl, or well, a girl player, was probably a guy playing as one. I took in her appearance, as my eyes focused in on her, she seemed to have silver eyes, actually now that I thought of it, she was kind of cute, her black hair kind of went well with it too. "Wait what am I thinking?" I internally scolded myself, "It's probably a dude Makoto, get your head out of the gutter!" I shook my head and looked her in the eye, "O-oh, sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you." I began to stand up and offered my hand out to her as I used my other one to brush some dust off of my pants.

She looked up at me, a scowl on her face, before swatting at my hand. "Sorry? You just knocked me over, and all you can say is sorry!" Her face is red and she's showing no sign of stopping. "You idiot can't you at least watch where you're going?"

It's now my turn to turn red, albeit for a different reason, I was blushing from embarrassment. Not even one hour in and I already pissed someone off, "Way to go Makoto," I thought to myself. "S-sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, I was trying to get to the exit gate via a shortcut..."

She snorted as she stood up, "Well watch where you're going next time." She shook her head, causing her long hair to move with it as she brushed it behind her shoulders. "Well, anyways, now that you've wasted my time, I suppose I should waste some of yours. That's fair after all, right?"

I blinked, cocking my head to the side, "Eh?"

She snorted again, "Weren't you listening? I said I'm going to use you for some help, you took some of my time, it's only fair."

I cocked my head to the other side now, this girl was truly unique, that's for sure, one second she's angry at you, the next she's demanding you help her. I shrugged before responding, "Uh, sure, what do you need help with?"

She smiled, "Well, now that you've asked... I require an escort to the store."

I scratched the back of my head as I gazed at her, "You mean you need directions to the market district...?"

She scrunched her nose up, "No, I mean I need an escort to it!"

"Why? Can't you read the map?" I asked, curious.

With that question, she turned away, her cheeks glowing slightly red. "N-no... I can read it... Pfft, who can't read the map?" She fidgeted with her hands as she continued to avert her gaze.

I sighed, "You're new, aren't you?"

"Shut up! It's my first VRMMO!"

"Alright, fine, fine, let's go.." I turned around and beckoned to her as I began walking back in the other direction, "I guess there's no helping it if you're new."

"H-hey! Wait up!" She called out to me as she began to follow suit.

Once she caught up, she stayed to the side of me for the whole way to the market. She remained mostly quiet for the walk, which gave me time to think about my next few steps. By now, most of the farming spots have already probably been snagged by players, which meant I'm going to have to go a little further out, sure it was risky, but dying in this game isn't that bad so I guess it won't be too bad if something bad happens.

"Hey, jerk." Her voice wakes me from my inner thoughts.

"You know, you're not going to make any friends if you keep treating people like that," I look over to her, not amused.

"H-hey! I don't need you lecturing me.." She let out a 'harrumph' as she looked away, "I was just going to thank you for showing me the way, jeeze.." She blushed slightly after.

"Oh, well uh, you're welcome I guess."

As we turned a corner I was greeted by the sight of the market district yet again. It was even busier now then before, I'd have to guess the main force of players have arrived finally.

"Well, here we are." I continued to look onward, waiting for a snarky reply, but when I didn't get one, I looked over to her. Her face was covered with surprise. I guess this really was her first VRMMO. Now that I thought about it though, she kind of had an innocent charm to her, when she wasn't biting my head off that is. A small smile formed on my face as I continued to look at her.

"What's with that stupid look?"

I was brought out of my stupor to see her glaring at me. "U-uh, nothing.." I looked away, grabbing the collar of my shirt and pulling it. So much for cute... "Anyways, like I said, this is the market district. Will you need any help finding any stores?"

She shook her head, "I should be able to take it from here."

After she spoke, I began to turn around, "Well, in that case-" I began.

"Wait!" She reached out to grab the sleeve of my jacket.

"Eh?" I responded.

"T-thanks.." She blushed, "I know I was kind of mean to you, but I appreciate you helping me.." She was looking down now, I guess because she was embarrassed.

"It's no big deal, we all got to start somewhere... Anyways, if that's everything, I'm gonna head out, I've got some goals to meet.

She let go of my sleeve, nodding, "Alright."

"Well, later!" I broke into a jog as I made my way back to the exit gate.

As I approached the gate I felt a slight wind blow against me, prompting a smile to emerge, I had made it, once I got past this, it was just me, and this game. I gripped my staff and approached it. The guards looked me over before opening it. Allowing me passage. As it opened I was greeted to the sight of beautiful rolling hills and plains. It was green, as far as the eye could see. Another gust of wind blew against me and my smile became a grin.

"I'm home..."

* * *

 **AN:**

Phew! So there we go, chapter 1 or is it a prologue, I dunno. Anyways, hopefully I'll finish this shit. If not, well, guess it'll just be another thing I've never finished, I dunno.. In case you can't tell by my alias, I kind of have a hard time finishing things like this. But hey! I actually have a outline of sorts, and I'm following SAO's canon. Speaking of which. If you can't tell this isn't a story about Kirito and Asuna. Sure they might make a cameo eventually. But I'm trying to do something with characters I've made. If OC's aren't your thing, then I apologize. But I'm going to try and make them just as interesting. Anyways, now that that's out of the way. I'm going to go start working on the second chapter. So if you have any questions, hit me up in the reviews or something and I'll answer them next chapter. See you all next time!


	2. A Perfect Nightmare

**A Perfect Nightmare**

"Hya!" I yelled as I twirled my quarterstaff into the belly of a boar, causing it to fly into the air. I dug my feet into the ground as my weapon began to take on a glow. Quickly after I pushed off the ground and lept into the air, my battlestaff raised above my head as I followed after the boar. As it came down I unleashed the swordskill, «Meteor Smash», my battlestaff colliding with the boar's spine as I brought it down on it, causing it to be spiked down to the ground. I landed after it, looking up to see a victory screen greet me as the enemy dissolved into nothingness.

It had been a few hours since I left the Town of Beginnings, but I had already reached level two. I waved my hand down to open my menu and examined my status. I was still a few thousand exp out from my next level. My eyes wandered to my skill slots and I began to think. I currently only had the quarterstaff skill slotted in, so I still had one extra skill slot. From the beta, I knew I'd get another skill slot at six twelve and twenty, but after that, I wasn't sure. As my mind continued to drift, my gaze moved to the sky, it was about five o'clock now so I guess my mother would be home soon. I moved my hand over to the system button and tapped it. As I continued to watch the sky I let my hand move on it's own to the logout button and hit it, preparing myself to be ejected from the game.

That's when nothing happened. I blinked, looking to my menu to see it. The logout button was gone.

"What the?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Was this some kind of sick joke? I hit the button again but to no avail. I was still in the game. I rubbed my chin as I tried to figure out what to do. I had no way of calling a Game Master, since that was all handled on there website, and there were no alternative logout methods I was aware of.

"Maybe someone else figured out what's going on.." I decided I'd head back to the Town of Beginnings, but before I could do, I found myself being teleported without choice.

When I reappeared, I was in the lobby that I first started in, I was surrounded by other players, all who seemed to be in a similar state of disbelief. Their murmurs could be heard through the area.

"What's going on?"

"Why can't we log out?"

"Is this a bug?"

If we were all brought here, it was probably for a reason, I'm guessing a GM was here to address the issue and log us all out or something. Although if that's the case, why wouldn't they just log us out now and address us online...

My concentration was broken as I heard a multitude of gasps come from the people around me. They were all looking at the sky. I followed their looks and saw it too. The sky was covered in hexagons, and from it some kind of liquid oozed from it. Was this their version of a welcoming ceremony or something? The ooze came together and slowly before our eyes, a robed figure was formed.

"Attention players, I welcome you to my world!"

I crossed my arms and continued to watch the figure with curiosity.

"My name, is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

What? Is he responsible for the inability to logout?

"I'm sure many of you have noticed an item missing from your menus, the logout button." He flicked his hand and opened the menu, moving it to the system button. "Let me assure you, this is not a defect." He hit the button and displayed his inability to logout as well. "I repeat, this is not a defect, this is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

"This dude can't be real."

"Is this a joke?"

Murmurs of discontent could be heard continuing through the crowd of people but Kayaba continued, "You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and nobody from outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nervegear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nervegear will discharge a microwave into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

The murmurs grew louder. Some people were already breaking down at this information. Others thought it was a bluff.

"Despite my warning, families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nervegear an unfortunate decision to say the least, as a result the game now has 213 less players then when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world.

What...? I blinked, this couldn't be real. This is like.. some kind of perfect nightmare!

"As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything." His speech continued as he displayed screens showing news stations and web pages. "Including the deaths... At this point its safe to assume the likelihood of a Nervegear getting removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game."

Clear the game? Was he out of his mind? This was a MMO for god's sake. We actually have to clear all hundred floors?

"It's important the following. There is no longer to revive someone within the game, if your hp drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever." The words echoed through the plaza and he continued. "And the Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

Then that's it I guess... This is now a death game... I clenched my fist in anger.

"There's only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on floor one. The lowest level of Aincrad, if you can get through the dungeon and beat the boss, you can advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you can clear the game!"

I grit my teeth. This wasn't good.

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player, please have a look."

I opened my inventory and saw it, «Mirror». I tapped it and it materialized in my hands. As I brought it up to look at it, I saw the reflection in it was my avatar. Suddenly before my eyes a bright flash appeared. All around me other players began to change. When I looked back to the mirror, I was no longer looking at my avatar, but me. Bleached blonde hair and all. "What the hell?" I gasped. All around me voices of confusion emanated.

"Who are you?"

"You're not a boy!"

"You're not seventeen!"

I grimaced, so that's what the whole scanning of the face was for when I first got the Nervegear. But how'd it get my-. I stopped my train of thought as it hit me. The patting down thing it had me do after. That's where it got my height and weight! Why do this though?

"Right now you're probably wondering why, why Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and Nervegear do this, ultimately my goal was a simple one, the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal... This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."

With that, he began to disappear. A sudden wave of realization hit me. I had to get out of here. I looked around and noticed someone was already running. He was probably out to get to some farming spots before the mass population did. I took off in his direction and decided to do the same. If this world just turned into a death game, I'm going to need every advantage I can get.

I rounded a corner and saw the same boy as before, he was being confronted by some red-haired guy. I turned around, not wanting to be confronted as well and started to take a different alley way to the exit. As I neared the end of the alley it happened again. I found myself being knocked off my feet yet again.

"Oomph!" I let out as I landed on my back.

"Ah!" A familiar voice came to my ears.

No way, did I really-?

"Y-you again!?"

Yep... I did it again, with the same girl too...

"Fancy running into you again.." I muttered aloud, rubbing the back of my head as I stood up. She didn't respond immediately, which caused me to open my eyes with curiosity. Where was that fire that she had earlier today? When I saw her, it hit me. This was her first VRMMO... I remember her telling me that, and not only that, but it's turned into a death game for her too. "H-hey, are you alright?" I reached out to her with my hand, putting it on her shoulder.

"Tell me this isn't real!" She stepped away from me.

I frowned, she hadn't fully accepted her reality yet.

"Tell me this is a nightmare, that it's a dream I'll wake up from!" She continued, her eyelids beginning to turn red as they grew wet from the tears appearing.

I wasn't sure what I was thinking at the time. Hell, I probably never will, but I made a choice at that moment. "Come on. We're getting out of here." I stepped forward and gripped her hand.

"W-wha?" She looked up at me, clearly distraught.

"This is our reality now, and unless we fight, we won't make it to the end. Now are you going to lie down and accept death or are you going to fight like me and survive?"

She blinked, looking away but gripped my hand in return.

"That's what I thought, now let's get out of here." After that, I took off with her. I'm still not sure what came over me. But I guess I'm just a sap for crying girls. Never the less, she became my responsibility now. So it was my duty to ensure her safety.

As we came to the exit gate, I let go of her hand and spoke, "Hey, once we leave through here, we'll be at danger of being attacked by monsters. You have a weapon right?"

"Yes, a spear." Her voice was practically trembling, but she was still holding it together.

"Good, right now we're going to focus on getting to Horunka before nightfall. It's a town to the northwest of here. Stay close to me and we'll get there in one piece."

She nodded and her grip on my hand tightened, "Alright.."

I turned my head to face her and gave her my best smile. "It'll all be alright, I promise." I knew I couldn't keep that promise, but I had to do something to cheer her up.

It worked, and she gave a slight smile before sniffing and wiping her eyes. "Okay. I'm keeping you to your word, so you better not let me down." She sounded a bit more confident, like she did earlier today, so it was a start. With that out of the way, I brought us out of the town.

* * *

We had been walking for about a good hour now. It was at least seven o'clock now and the sun was beginning to retreat behind the horizon. The girl hadn't spoken much since we left, but then again, neither had I. I've been too focused on fighting anything that got near us. As we continued down the path, I brought us to a stop.

"Hey, we're going to take a short break here." I looked to her and waited for a response.

"What, why?" She tilted her head, her silver eyes looking into mine.

"I need to take care of a few things." I sat down after speaking and opened my menu. A popup appeared on my screen and I hit yes. Before I knew it, I heard a surprised yelp come from her.

"What's this?" She asked.

"It's a party invitation. It's so I can monitor your health and stuff."

"Oh.." She hit the yes button and I watched her name and health bar appear in the corner of my eye.

I read it aloud without realizing, "...Rin."

"Huh?" She looked at me, "How'd you know my name?"

I shook my head. "Eh? What do you mean?"

She put her hands on her hips, "You said my name."

I blinked, "What are you talking about, I said your-..." Oh no. She didn't.

"Well?"

"Your in-game name. It says Rin." I pointed to where her name should be appearing in her vision.

She gasped, "Wait you mean when it asked for a name it didn't mean my real name?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

She gazed at her name before looking down to see mine.

"...Masako, what kind of name is that?"

I sighed, "It's my online alias."

"...So it's not your real name?"

"No," I shook my head, "It's usually a good idea to separate your real life from your in-game life. Although I guess you've already broken that rule..." I chuckled.

"H-hey, it's not like I meant to!" She blushed, looking away as she crossed her arms.

"Well, whatever, nothing you can do now..." As I trailed off I looked to her and realized something else, "Wait a minute, you don't look any different them from before."

She looked at me like I grew a second head, "Well... yeah, what did you expect, I'd magically turn into a brunette or something?"

"No, the mirror, it changes your appearance to how you look IRL." I blinked, as another wave of realization hit me. No way, there's no way she's this new. "Uh.. Rin, you didn't happen to just make your character use your own appearance, right?"

"Well, yeah, why?" She raised an eyebrow at me, curious.

"You're not supposed to do that..."

"What? Why?" Her voice went an octave higher as she stared at me.

"It's..." I sighed, "Nevermind."

"Well, what about you?" She pointed her finger at me, "You hardly look any different at all, the only differences I can spy is your eyes are blue now and your hair's bleached blonde."

I bit my lip, she had me there, I wasn't very creative in my character creation as well, only opting to make minor changes. "Thats...-"

"Sounds like you basically broke your own rule yourself." She smirked at me.

I sighed, raising my hands in defeat, "Looks like you got me there." I looked up to her and gave her a small smile, "Anyways, we've wasted enough time, let's get back on the move." I stood back up and grabbed my quarterstaff, using it as a walking stick. "We're still a few kilometers out, so we should make it there by about nine if we're good about our speed. You ready?"

She nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

After traveling for a good half-hour the woods began to get thicker. It was hard to see much further ahead so I began to focus, as I did I began to hear snorting. I stopped and threw my hand to the side to stop Rin.

"Huh? Why are we stopping?" She looked to me, confused.

"Shh." I put my finger to my lips and concentrated. The snorting grew louder and that's when it hit me, there was a pack of boars heading our way. "Shit. Rin, we need to hide." I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me.

"Wha-what are you doing!" She yelled at me.

"Quiet!" I softly scolded her as I ducked into a bush, bringing her with me.

She fell onto my lap and I let out a loud grunt. "Hey watch it!" She glared at me.

I shushed her again and began to put my head on a swivel. The noises were coming from the north, in the same direction as Horunka. I scowled, we'd have to wait here for them to pass. A battle with a few boars I could handle, maybe even a full pack, but since I had Rin with me, it might get difficult, since I'd have to protect her too.

We sat there for a good two minutes before they entered my sight. My grip around her tightened in anticipation as I watched them. She let out a soft eep and glared at me again. I shook my head and slowly pointed at them. She let her mouth open into an 'O' as she saw them too. There was at least twenty boars, and there were all moving in our direction.

Rin turned to look at me and whispered, "Masako, what do we do?"

I frowned, whispering back, "Hope to god they don't see us." It was a long shot, but we were well camouflaged. I was keeping a steady eye on our visibility meter, as long as it didn't drop below fifty percent, we should be fine, they were still about fifteen meters out, so the meter was still at about ninety percent.

The boars continued on their path towards us and the gauge became lower. I watched it with baited breath as it dropped. First it became eighty-five, then eighty, then seventy. As it continued to drop, the boars grew closer and closer, it wasn't until they were atleast five meters away, did the meter drop to fifty-three percent.

"Whatever you do, don't move a muscle..." I whispered in here ear.

She didn't respond but she understood. The front most boar sniffed a few time before turning around. As they turned around and began to walk away, I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that we got out unscathed.

That's when all hell broke loose.

"Achoo!"

My heart dropped, Rin had sneezed. My gaze quickly moved to the visibility meter, it was at 20% and the boars were all looking straight at us.

"Shit, Rin, get back!" I stood up and grabbed my staff off of my back, brandishing it. "Whatever you do, stay behind me!"

"Masako...?" She gave me a worried look.

"Just stay behind the tree, keep out of sight!" I looked back at her, trying to put on my best brave face before looking back to the pack. The first one had already charged at me. I dug my feet in and returned it's charge, "Hyaaaa!" I yelled as I jabbed the end of my staff into the boar. It staggered backwards, giving me enough time to follow up with a heavy side-smack to it's midsection, sending it flying away.

"Snort, snort."

I looked up after hearing the noise only to see the other boars had surrounded me while I fought the first one. I had nowhere to go now. The next one kicked it's feet into the ground to charge. I didn't have enough time to retaliate so I sidestepped it, my legs just barely missing it's sharp tusks.

I twirled my staff as I brought it above my head, scanning the pack to find out which would charge next. Since this was still the first floor, they'd most likely telegraph all their attacks, which meant as long as I kept an eye on all of them, I should be able to make it out alright. That's when out of the corner of my eye I saw one of them dragging it's hoof into the ground, kicking up small bits of dusts.

"It's going to charge," I thought, and sure enough, it did. The boar came barreling towards me, but this time I was prepared. As soon as it entered my range I brought my staff down onto it's head. Crushing it with a powerful vertical smash. The boar let out a dying scream as it disappeared.

"Two down, eighteen to go..." I muttered to myself. That's when I heard her voice, or rather her scream assault my ears. "Wha..?" I turned to look behind me to see Rin charging a boar. She impaled her spear into it before lifting it into the air, pulling the spear closer to herself so she could kick the boar off of the tip.

"Hya!" She yelled, before running to my side.

"Rin?" I asked, stupefied at her actions, "I thought I told you-."

She put her back to mine, "I'm not going to let you have all the fun Masako!"

I wasn't sure where this confidence was coming from, but I wasn't about turn it down. If she was willing to help, I'd accept it. "Alright then, just try and keep up," I looked back to her, flashing her a cocky smile.

I didn't know how long we fought for, but it felt like at least half an hour. We'd managed to thin the population of the pack to about six now, and victory was in sight. That's when I heard it. The screech of a Large Nepent. The rest of the boars heard it too, when I looked over to them, they were all retreating.

"Masako? What was that?" Rin looked to me, worried.

"It's a Nepent, and I think it's decided we're for dinner..." I grimaced. Little Nepents I could deal with, but a Large Nepent, you might as well of been fighting a miniboss. I moved my head around as I tried to locate the location of the screeches. That's when I saw the trees begin to sway in the distance. "Rin, it's coming from that side." I nodded off in the direction where I saw the trees shake and she nodded back in confirmation.

That's when we saw it, the «Large Nepent». It squirmed into sight from the trees, towering above us. The roots below it's stalk moved around on the ground like tentacles as it used the to maneuver. It had no eyes, but it didn't need them. Nepent's had an acute sense of smell, so hiding was pointless, that much I knew.

"H-hey, Masako? What's the plan?"

I wasn't sure how to respond, I'd never fought the larger variant before. But I was running out of time. I needed to think of something. That's when it lashed out with it's two vine like arms. They hit the ground just in front of us as it emitted another loud screech from it's giant mouth.

"Alright, here's the pla-." I began, but was cut short.

"Haaaaaaaaah!" Rin yelled as she charged the plant.

"Rin! No!" I threw my hand out to her but she was already too far. The Nepent used one of it's arms to scoop her up unceremoniously and brought her into the air.

"H-hey! Let me go!" She squirmed in it's grip, but it only made it tighter, "Masako! Help!"

"Shit, Rin, I'm coming!" I charged at the plant. I had no plan, no process, only a goal and a promise, I wasn't going to let Rin get killed. Not like this, and not today. The Nepent lashed it's free vine at me, but I side-stepped it. It followed up with another whipping attack but this time I was prepared. I batted the vine away with my quarterstaff, dealing a small amount of damage at the same time. The pain must of loosened it's grip on Rin, because she was starting to squirm more. I grit my teeth as I prepared a sword skill as I finished closing the distance. My quarterstaff began to glow as my feet dug into the ground.

"Come on, come on...!" I was practically yelling as I waited for my sword skill to finish charging. That's when the Nepent brought down it's vine in an attempt to smack me down. That's when I leapt in the air, barely dodging the vine as I came face to face with it's large mouth.

"You're going down!" I yelled at it as I brought my quarterstaff down onto it's head, unleashing a «Meteor Smash» onto it's head. The Nepent let out a pained howl as it dropped Rin to the ground. I looked to it's status bar and saw I had inflicted a stun. That should buy me some time. As I landed, I moved to where Rin was laying on the ground. She was at about half health now, but still alive.

"Rin! Are you alright?" I looked over her before looking back to the Nepent, it was still flailing it's vine arms in the air in pain, so I had a few more seconds left.

Rin slowly stood up and nodded, "Y-yeah, I'm alright, thanks.." She looked to the Nepent and back to me, "So you thought of a plan yet? Or was me getting caught your plan.."

I shook my head, "No it wasn't, but I have one now." I put my quarterstaff on my back and looked to her. "I'm going to grab it's vines when it goes to attack me. When I do, I want you to charge in and cut it off, alright?"

She gave me a surprised look, "You can do that?"

I nodded, "Yeah, so you ready?"

She unsheathed her spear and responded with a nod of her own, "Yes, let's finish this thing."

I charged the Nepent as I attempted to bait one of it's attacks. It let out a howl as it faced me, one of it's vines shaking in the air, almost like a rattlesnake's tail as it prepared to lash out at me. I waited as I kept my hands ready. It let out another howl as it then brought the vine down on me, attempting to whip me. I sidestepped it, just barely and grabbed it with a vise-like grip. "Alright Rin! Now's your chance!"

"Got it!" She charged in, her spear raised high as she brought it down on the vine, cutting through it with the sharp tip of her spear. The monster responded with a pained howl as the vine dropped to the ground, squirming around still like a snake. It's health was brought down to about half with that attack, so if we did the other arm, it should be almost dead.

"Alright, get back and prepare for the next one!"

"Right!"

I got close to the Nepent and unsheathed my staff, whacking it's stalk a few times as I drew it's attention. When it's face turned to me I put my staff away again and leapt back.

"Alright Rin! Here it comes!"

It's vine swooshed down and attempted to hit me again but failed as jumped to the side before it could hit me. I moved in and grabbed it, holding it tight as I kept it by my side. Without even needing to give her the word, Rin was there, spear in hand as she cut through the vine with a loud, "Hya!"

The Nepent staggered back as it lost it's other arm, it was most likely in a panic now and would try something new now. I looked over to Rin and got my staff ready. "Alright, let's finish this off!"

She nodded, "Got another plan?"

"Yeah, I'm going to hit it's head and stun it. You charge in put your spear right in that thing's body, understand?"

"Got it!" She prepared her spear as she quickly stepped backwards, allowing me to go in first.

I let my staff bring on it's glow as I prepared my sword skill, all while charging in. "Alright, let's finish this!" The Nepent let out a howl and shook it's head as I grew close. That's when without warning, it attempted to smash down and hit me with it's giant teeth, but I was already in the air. "Here we go! Meteeeeeeeor Strike!" I unleashed my attack with my all as I came down, bringing my staff down onto the back of it's head. It let out a muffled screech as it's mouth was stuck in the dirt, but it wasn't over yet. As I leapt back I saw Rin shoot past me, spear in hand as she charged it.

"You're done for!" She yelled as she leapt in the air and impaled the Nepent with her spear. Thrusting it straight into it's head. It let a final screech as it died before disappearing in a flash of bright light. It was over, we won.

As the idea of victory set in, I collapsed on my back in relief, "We.. we actually did it.." I laughed, throwing my arms into the air, "We did it!"

Rin was equally as ecstatic as she leapt into the air, "Woohoo! That was awesome!"

I sat up from the ground and gave her a smile. She looked to me and offered one of her own, "We did it Masako!"

I let out a sigh of relief, "Yeah.. we did."

* * *

 **A/N** **:**

Wow, that didn't take long. I originally wanted to get the two all the way to Horunka, but the chapter was already pretty long as it was so I figured I'd cut it short here. Anyways, sorry if the fight scene was boring or bad. I've never really been good at that kind of stuff, so let me know if there are anythings I could of done better. Annnnnnnnyways, with that all out of the way, I'm going to go drown myself in some memes and relax. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon if I can.


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